News management demands live apology for sweeping claims about Bedouin women and unverified ballot-box failures • Ayala Hasson says ultimatum is unprecedented and accuses broadcaster of selective enforcement
The news division of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (Kan) told senior anchor Ayala Hasson on Wednesday that unless she issues an apology and clarification on air this evening, she will not be permitted to present her programme. The demand follows sweeping statements she made about Bedouin women and unverified claims of widespread ballot-box failures in Arab communities.
"These are not merely generalisations that are unfounded and inaccurate, but statements that endanger public trust in Israel's election results — and public broadcasting cannot be party to them," Kan management said. "The requirement is to issue a clarification and apology in wording acceptable to the news division, and if she refuses, she will not be able to broadcast."
According to Hasson, the head of Kan's news division, Lior Landenberg, sent her a rigid ultimatum by WhatsApp message, requiring her to read word-for-word a text he had drafted for her, which she says attributes distorted meanings to her remarks, as a condition for continuing to appear on screen.
"This is a demand to present viewers with a statement dictated to me by the news director, as though it were a personal message I had drafted of my own free will," Hasson said. "My refusal to comply with this demand has become grounds to prevent my appearance on air. There is no precedent for conduct of this kind. A news director has the authority to edit and to criticise, but that does not justify forcing a personal statement on a journalist."
In her letter, Hasson accused Kan management of a lack of restraint and selective enforcement, comparing the treatment she has received to previous cases on Kan's Hebrew and Arabic broadcasts:
"When offensive statements were heard on Kan broadcasts against IDF fighters and soldiers and against sectors of Israeli society, the news director did not take similar steps and did not issue ultimatums. It is hard to understand how in my case specifically, when the remarks were not even made on Kan broadcasts but on a regional radio station, such an exceptional and extreme step has been taken."
Hasson detailed the sequence of events and noted that she had already issued a clarification on air on Shabbat, published an apology on social media, and received approval from Kan's internal ethics committee and legal counsel. She said her offer today to submit an agreed alternative apology text was rejected outright by Landenberg.
"Leaks and fuel for the incitement bonfire"
At the end of her statement, Hasson linked the extreme move by Kan 11 news management to the public and political campaign being waged against her in recent days on social media.
"It is hard not to wonder whether the sudden change in approach is connected to the political incitement campaign being conducted against me. The leaks against me from within the corporation are nothing but fuel for the wild incitement bonfire. Instead of acting responsibly, elements in the public broadcaster are contributing to stoking the attack. Journalistic ethics are not compatible with selective enforcement. The public broadcasting corporation belongs to all of us," Hasson concluded.
The storm erupted following an interview Hasson gave on Eli Tzipori's programme on Galei Israel radio. In the conversation, she referred to voters for the Change Bloc and attacked sharply with sweeping generalisations about Bedouin women in the Negev: "Bedouin women in the Negev, with veils, who are mostly battered women... and after they reach 25 the husband brings another woman... These women are Palestinians from Hebron and Gaza, sisters of Ismail Haniyeh. This is the Change Bloc?"
Following widespread protest from civil-society organisations and petitions signed by thousands of Bedouin women, Kan itself apologised to the Bedouin community. At the same time, Hasson published a post on social media in which she wrote: "No intention to harm... and anyone who was hurt by my words, I apologise to her from the bottom of my heart."
Although Kan's internal ethics committee, headed by Dr Uri Paz, accepted the wording, sharp criticism was levelled on social media and among civil-society organisations. Critics argued that it was a "forced apology" and evasive wording that does not take journalistic responsibility for what was said.
Claims of ballot-box failures
Alongside the storm over the sweeping statements, sharp criticism was directed at a report broadcast on the "Shabbat News" programme presented by Hasson. The report featured eyewitness claims of malfunctions at ballot boxes they had visited on election day. However, the broadcast could be understood misleadingly as though irregularities had occurred at all ballot boxes in the Arab sector.
Kan clarified that the claims related specifically to certain ballot boxes only and not to the sector as a whole, and that unfounded damage to election integrity is a red line for a public broadcaster, requiring an explicit on-air clarification.
This is not the first time Hasson has found herself at the centre of a media storm. In 2021, Hasson was attacked in the city of Lod by extremist Jewish youths while filming a report on the violent riots. She then recounted on the main news bulletin: "I didn't stop crying, it was full of anxiety."
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